Ancient Israel And Judaism
The pomegranate is mentioned or alluded to in the Bible many times. It is also included in coinage and various types of ancient and modern cultural works.
For example, pomegranates were known in Ancient Israel as the fruits that the scouts brought to Moses to demonstrate the fertility of the “promised land”. The Book of Exodus describes the me’il worn by the Hebrewhigh priest as having pomegranates embroidered on the hem, alternating with golden bells, which could be heard as the high priest entered and left the Holy of Holies. According to the Books of Kings, the capitals of the two pillars that stood in front of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem were engraved with pomegranates. Solomon is said to have designed his coronet based on the pomegranate’s “crown” .
Some Jewish scholars believe the pomegranate was the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Additionally, pomegranates are one of the Seven Species of fruits and grains enumerated in the Hebrew Bible as special products of the Land of Israel, and the Songs of Solomon contains this quote: “Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is comely: thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.” .
The pomegranate appeared on the ancient coins of Judea, and when not in use, the handles of Torah scrolls are sometimes covered with decorative silver globes similar in shape to pomegranates .
Ancient Iran And Persia
Iran is the second-largest producer and largest exporter of pomegranates in the world. In Persian, pomegranate is known as anar. The fruit’s juice and paste have a role in Iranian cuisine, e.g. chicken,ghormas, and refreshment bars. Pomegranate skins may be used to stain wool and silk in the carpet industry.
The Pomegranate Festival is an annual cultural and artistic festival held to exhibit and sell pomegranates, food products, and handicrafts.
In European Christian Motifs
Madonna of the PomegranateSandro Botticelli
In the earliest incontrovertible appearance of Christ in a mosaic, a fourth-century floor mosaic from Hinton St Mary, Dorset, now in the British Museum, the bust of Christ and the chi rho are flanked by pomegranates.Pomegranates continue to be a motif often found in Christian religious decoration. They are often woven into the fabric of vestments and liturgical hangings or wrought in metalwork. Pomegranates figure in many religious paintings by the likes of Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci, often in the hands of the Virgin Mary or the infant Jesus. The fruit, broken or bursting open, is a symbol of the fullness of Jesus’ suffering and resurrection.
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Ancient And Modern Greece
The Greeks were familiar with the fruit far before it was introduced to Rome via Carthage, and it figures in multiple myths and artworks. In Ancient Greek mythology, the pomegranate was known as the “fruit of the dead”, and believed to have sprung from the blood of Adonis.
The myth of Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, prominently features her consumption of pomegranate seeds, requiring her to spend a certain number of months in the underworld every year. The number of seeds and therefore months vary. During the months, while Persephone sits on the throne of the underworld beside her husband Hades, her mother Demeter mourned and no longer gave fertility to the earth. This was an ancient Greek explanation for the seasons.
According to Carl A. P. Ruck and Danny Staples, the chambered pomegranate is also a surrogate for the poppy’s narcotic capsule, with its comparable shape and chambered interior. On a Mycenaean seal illustrated in Joseph Campbell‘s Occidental Mythology , figure 19, the seated Goddess of the double-headed axe offers three poppy pods in her right hand and supports her breast with her left. She embodies both aspects of the dual goddess, life-giving and death-dealing at once.
The Titan Orion was represented as “marrying” Side, a name that in Boeotia means “pomegranate”, thus consecrating the primal hunter to the goddess.
Girl with a Pomegranate
Sexual Performance And Fertility
Pomegranate juices concentration of antioxidants and ability to impact oxidative stress make it a potential fertility aid. Oxidative stress has been shown to cause sperm dysfunction and .
The juice has also been shown to help reduce oxidative stress in the placenta. But researchers dont yet know the exact benefits this may provide. Drinking pomegranate juice can also increase testosterone levels in men and women, one of the main hormones behind sex drive.
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Fruit Sarcotesta And Seeds
Red-purple in color, the pomegranate fruit husk has two parts: an outer, hard pericarp, and an inner, spongy mesocarp , which comprises the fruit inner wall where seeds attach. Membranes of the mesocarp are organized as nonsymmetric chambers that contain seeds inside sarcotestas, which are embedded without attachment to the mesocarp. Containing juice, the sarcotesta is formed as a thin membrane derived from the epidermal cells of the seeds. The number of seeds in a pomegranate can vary from 200 to about 1,400.
Botanically, the edible fruit is a berry with seeds and pulp produced from the ovary of a single flower. The fruit is intermediate in size between a lemon and a grapefruit, 512 cm in diameter with a rounded shape and thick, reddish husk.
In mature fruits, the juice obtained by compressing the seeds yields a sour flavor due to low pH and high contents of polyphenols, which may cause a red indelible stain on fabrics. Primarily, the pigmentation of pomegranate juice results from the presence of anthocyanins and ellagitannins.
Residents Fight Back With A Fight Club
Attendees of the Parkinsons Fight Club follow along and move to the beat Thursday at Rohan Recreation Center. The group allows people to connect with others who suffer from the disease and offers emotional and physical support as they do exercises to help fight it.
About 100 residents locked eyes on Gary Ingram as he stood in the center of the room at Rohan Recreation Center, drumsticks and microphone in hand.
Ingram leads the Parkinsons Fight Club, part support group, part exercise class, for residents with the progressive, degenerative disease.
The recent meeting began with a discussion and question-and-answer session. Ingram offered the advice hed gathered in his 25 years with the disease. Members asked questions about topics that had been weighing on their minds, from nutrition to medication.
Parkinsons disease was the 14th leading cause of death in the U.S. In 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though the disease itself is not fatal, it can have serious complications, according to the Parkinsons Foundation, like limited motor function and depression.
Read this story and many others in Mondays edition of the Daily Sun.
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